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Sunday, February 20, 2011

Harry Potter: Loyalty

In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, the governors of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry ask Professor Dumbledore to step down as the school's Headmaster. Dumbledore agrees to do so and says something very important.

"'However,' said Dumbedore, speaking very slowly and clearly so that none of them could miss a word, 'you will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me. You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it'" (pages 263-264).

These are powerful words. The first part - "'However, . . . you will find that I will only truly have left this school when none here are loyal to me'" - indicates that you can't get rid of a person's spirit as long as others carry that spirit within themselves. This works for good or for ill.

I would say that the following people are among those who have not truly left this world: Jesus, Abraham, Mohammed, Buddha, Joan of Arc, Therese of Lisieux (who promised to spend her heaven doing good on earth), Dorothy Day. Of course, the physical presence of the human being who was Jesus or Abraham or Joan or Therese has left this world. But the spirit that moved them has not. That same spirit lives in others, who are loyal to them and to their spirit. We can call this spirit the Holy Spirit or the Spirit of God or the Christ Spirit, if we wish. Or we can call this spirit the spirit of goodness or the spirit of loving sacrifice or the spirit of service.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned above, this works not only for good but also for evil. There remain also in this world those who are loyal to the spirit of Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Benedict Arnold, the Marquis de Sade, Judas Iscariot. This keeps alive the evil embodied by these men.

The second part of Dumbledore's statement - "'You will also find that help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it'" - indicates that help is always available, even in the darkest of times. The Bible makes a similar promise, but I find it hard to believe this promise. Some people have to face difficulties that are more than they can handle, help is not given or at any rate not recognized, and the person crashes. A prime example of this is seen in teenagers who have endured intense bullying at school and have finally killed themselves. Help was not given. The pain was too great to bear.